Imola 1994: Memories from Senna's rivals

The tragic events of the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix changed Formula 1 forever. Here, speaking as part of our special bookazine that was released in 2011, 17 of the drivers who took part in that infamous meeting explain how they coped with the devastating deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna

Michael Schumacher

Benetton-Ford Grid: 2 Race: 1

(Speaking in 2011) I was always a great admirer of Ayrton. I had seen him at a karting race, back in Zolder, and this guy I didn't know at that time immediately caught my attention: the lines he was driving, the way he was doing it, I just loved the way he was karting there.

From that day on I knew his name, and obviously when he entered F1 I still looked at him. And when I got to F1 it was the same, I just loved the way he was driving. So in a way Ayrton was my idol, even if I wasn't happy at first with his approach towards young drivers when I entered F1. But this was part of the game, so it was no big deal.

The 1994 season started surprisingly well for us, and we found ourselves in the position to eventually fight for the championship which was great, obviously. I looked forward to fighting against Ayrton and Imola was the next step in this fight.

I saw his accident but I wasn't informed what had happened. So at first, I wasn't aware of the consequences. But when I heard about it, I remember it was a deep shock. You know, it might sound strange, but that weekend, with Roland Ratzenberger and Senna dying, was the first time for me that I experienced that somebody found death through the sport I loved so much.

Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 29th as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 70 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.

Gary, who also writes for Autoweek, Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.

Edd Straw is a former Editor and Editor-in-Chief of Autosport, who is now Motorsport Network’s Digital Content Manager.

Originally from Guernsey in the Channel Islands, he joined Autosport in 2002 having graduated from Warwick University. He went on to cover a wide range of categories from club motorsport to the World Touring Car Championship and Le Mans to Formula 3 before switching to F1 full-time at the 2008 French Grand Prix. He then became Autosport Magazine Editor in November 2014.

After becoming Editor-in-Chief of Autosport in June 2016, he took up his current wider Motorsport Network role in October the following year and continues to contribute as a writer, F1 correspondent and as host of The Autosport Podcast.

In his spare time, he was formerly a club racer whose abilities did not match his enthusiasm in a variety of categories ranging from Stock Hatch to the European Ferrari Challenge.

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